After the new channel was cut on Millennium Creek, there
were certain areas of the stream channel that required further measures to
create the narrow deep channel that was in the restoration plan. These areas
of the creek had very soft bottoms, low gradient and no cover habitat for
trout. The most cost effective and efficient method of remediation was
determined to be the installation of deflectors to train the flow in the
channel. This would achieve the narrow deep channel that was desired!

In the spring of 2007, a total of 48 timber bundle
deflectors were installed into the stream channel on Millennium Creek. The
results of this stream enhancement became quite evident by the following
year, when the channel narrowed and deepened from a definite constriction in
the flow velocity of the channel. By the spring of 2008, vegetation had
slowly grown in from the established riparian plants already present on the
stream banks and sub-emergent aquatic plants started to cover the shallow
areas along the perimeter of the channel.

Above Photo: Before Deflectors

This
is a photo of a length of stream channel that had been cut one year earlier.
The photo was taken in the summer of 2006, before timber bundle deflectors
were installed. Note the wide shallow depth of the silt covered bottom with
no available fish habitat.

Above Photo: After Deflectors

This
photo is of the same length of stream channel one year after timber bundle
deflectors were installed in the stream channel. The photo was taken in the
spring of 2008, one year after the deflectors were placed in the channel.
Note the new riparian growth!

Policeman Creek Deflectors

Constricting the Flow and Providing Cover Habitat for
Trout !

Above: You can see a brown trout holding beneath the cover of
a timber bundle deflector.

2002
Policeman Creek Deflector Project

In 2002, BVHD completed a timber bundle deflector project
on Policeman Creek, in the Town of Canmore, Alberta. The project involved the
installation of 11 timber deflectors along both sides of the stream channel.
The objective was to constrict the flow in the channel, to scour and deepen a
run in the centre of the creek.

The submerged timber bundles would also provide good
cover habitat for resident mountain whitefish and trout. A track hoe was used
to trench in the deflectors, with frost anchors, rocks and steel pins to hold
them in place.

The finished project was very natural in appearance and
the structures successfully deepened the channel and increased the velocity
of flow. Trout were observed holding in the cover that they provided, in the
following years.

A simple deflector design was used in the Millennium Creek
enhancement project. Additional woody debris was added to the basic post
design to make the deflectors appear more natural and provide added cover for
trout.

The posts are spruce or pine. They are striped of their
bark, sharpened and driven horizontally into the stream bank on opposing
sides of the stream channel. They are installed at or below the water level
in the creek, so that frost heaving will be kept to a minimum.

Over time, the channel will narrow and deepen. Riparian
foliage will encroach in on the stream banks. The root systems of the
riparian growth will elevate and stabilize the stream channels perimeter.

The woody debris is an attractive environment for various
types of aquatic invertebrates, so the added habitat will contribute to the
food base of resident trout as well.